Cactus from seed... Successes? Failures?

9 years ago

Hey all,

Just wanted to share some pics of some cactuses I've grown from seed and would love to see yours as well!! What's easy to grow? What was impossible to grow?

Cephalocereus senilis, Old Man Cactus

Took forever to germinate. Didn't see anything in the container for about 2.5 months. One didn't pop up for about 4 months. Only four of the seeds were a success out of probably 50. But look how cute!

Cereus repandus, Peruvian Apple Cactus

These guys only took about 2 weeks to sprout up. I wasn't sure how fast they grew so I kind of ignored them after my experience with the Old Man Cactus. To my surprise they grew FAST. As you can see, most of the seeds I sprinkled around worked well.

Any fun tips or tricks? Fave cactuses to grow from seed?

Featured Answer

greenclaws UK, Zone 8a

9 years ago

Ahhh, yes, that does make more sense then :-) If you want to transplant carefully, I've seen a cutlery fork used to lift up sections of soil with the baby roots intact, or a teaspoon, think personally a fork would be best and have less chance of amputatiting those fragile roots whilst holding the top growth gently. Just make sure the pot is ready with a suitable sized indent to accept the soil/plant/roots and just tap the pot lightly on the table to settle it in, no need to do any other firming really. The new mix should be light and high in perlite as I'm sure you know. A grittier mix could come along later when they have become more robust. Let us know how the move goes i fyou decide?

Maybe just transplant a few and then you can see if they benefit from a move to single homes. Can't see what depth of soil is below them, looks like a takeaway box so I suspect not too much? Watering will be different as individual and small pots will dry out much quicker remember. They look happy in there at the moment and suspect won't grow a huge amount over winter so won't need new soil for nutrients maybe till spring when they will kick into a faster growth cycle....not sure of your location and climate/sun, perhaps add it after your name, it can help when advise is asked.

Gill

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Comments (7)

greenclaws UK, Zone 8a
9 years ago
Maybe it was the soil mix in the first pic that caused the seeds not to grow as it looks very caked and dry on top? The second pic shows a mix that seems to be more friable so the seeds were able to break through easily. Just a thought! Most cacti seeds are tiny so the particles in the mix should also be small....a blend of small grade sifted perlite and cactus soil half and half should be light enough to get good rates of germination.

Gill
Olivia Nicholson
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi Gill, thanks for the advice. I believe they were both the same soil starting, the top one has just been sitting there for 5 months or so and it also started growing some mold on the surface which didn't help. I want to put the babies in some new soil, but I'm so paranoid of damaging them or shocking them. Not sure if I should just leave them be.
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LH On the Move
9 years ago
Olivia! I have Cereus Peruvianus (Apple Cactus) that looks exactly like yours! Almost 100% germination in just a few days, and they look just like yours - I planted mine on November 7. I've kept mine completely sealed up. I heard they shouldn't come out of the ziplocs until 3 months. At the same time, I planted Mammilarria Fraileana that are doing amazingly well, along with some gymnocalyciums and a few unknowns. All of those seeds were from my own plants. I just started another batch with seeds I purchased - I hope they do half as well. I check them multiple times a day. :)
Olivia Nicholson
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes I might try to move one into some fresh cactus mix and see how it goes. I only have 4 of them so I wouldn't want to ruin the whole group
Olivia Nicholson
Original Author
9 years ago
I ordered some lithops seeds to try out since I heard those were fairly easy to get started, but all the others I have going are from my own plants, it's so satisfying!!
greenclaws UK, Zone 8a
9 years ago
You only have four now....so what happened to all the others?

BTW, did you realise growing from seed can become an addiction :-) !

Gill